Wednesday of the 4th week of Lent, 14th March

“For Zion was saying, ‘The Lord has abandoned me, the Lord has forgotten me.’ … Yet even if these forget, I will never forget you.”

Isaiah 49:8-15

Throughout Lent, we hear stories from a number of refugees JRS accompanies. What feelings stir in you as you read their story?

Hassan-Ali’s Story

For Hassan-Ali it seemed that life had become absent of hope, and he little confidence that things would change in the future. He felt he was being pushed to the edges of society by the government. With no support, he was dependent on the work of charities to get by day-to-day. “I had gone to Red Cross for help because the Home Office had refused my asylum application and with it stopped my weekly payment.”

It was at the Red Cross that Hassan-Ali found out about the work of JRS and how we could help him through a difficult time in his life. Thankfully, he began to see that there were people who cared for him and the situation he was in, and were willing to simply walk alongside him through it all. “In such a dark moment, I came to meet an organisation called JRS whose members are simply there to care for refugees and asylum seeker by any means possible.”

Join us tomorrow where we will rejoin Hassan-Ali on his journey.

Hassan-Ali’s story is real, however we have changed his name to protect his privacy.

#Do1Thing

For Hassan-Ali, meeting people who cared about him as an individual, when it seemed that he was otherwise forgotten, helped him on his journey. At JRS UK we believe that walking alongside refugees can be a source of great strength to those we serve at times when they feel alone on their journey.

Today we invite you to consider volunteering with a refugee organisation in your local area. By welcoming refugees into our own communities we begin to change public opinion surrounding refugees and, importantly, help those who are journeying through dark times to see that there are people willing to walk alongside them.